


Johna the Brave

by The_Shy_One



Category: Original Work
Genre: Dragons, F/F, Fantasy, Inspired by Music, Knights - Freeform, POV Third Person, Prompt Fic, Quest, Shapeshifting, Short Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:54:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23951131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Shy_One/pseuds/The_Shy_One
Summary: Prompt - Where the character lives out some event drawn from your favourite song lyric or movie title.Johna was so close to the end of her quest of finding the Dragon Queen of Draconia. First, she had to check the rumoured area that the Queen hideout in since the end of the war between dragons and humans.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Kudos: 3





	Johna the Brave

**Author's Note:**

> “In the land of the lost horizon  
> Where the queen lies dark and cold  
> When the stars won't shine, then the story's told”  
> \- Egypt (Chains are On) by DIO

Through the slates of her helmet, she saw where the trees and brush of the forest started to fade out. The colour of the leaves turned from bright and healthy green to a sickly brown that concerned Johna as she continued to ride through the forest. What was most concerning was the further she followed the trail towards her destination, the less she heard the singing voices of the birds. The quietness blanketed over her party, making the shuffling footsteps of the horses and the nervous chatter more noticeable than it had been on the journey before.

She kept the lead, pushing through the discomfort. Johna wasn’t going to fail the duty that she took on when taking the quest to find the missing Dragon Queen from the country of Dracona. The shapeshifter ruler had disappeared at the height of the war between the Draconians and humans, the reasons why she did so unknown to even her subjects. 

As they became fully surrounded by the dying forest - trees bare of leaves and the ground void of grass or bushes, the area a wasteland that would forever stick in her memories the longer she spent time in it - Johna finally spotted the tower where the Dragon Queen was rumoured to be hiding in. In the distance, she saw the blackened vines wrap around the grey stone walls and the dark clouds in the sky above it. 

It was the closest to seeing an omen that was always in one of the old stories her parent had told her about - of a raging dragon who was ready to strike down any knight who had too much fear in his heart, who was too cowardly to be even in the presence of such a force.

Who was unworthy to tame such a creature.

Johna knew she was brave enough to face the Dragon Queen. There wasn’t a single doubt in her mind or heart about that statement. If she did let any in, it would mean the continuation of the suffering of people who had pleaded with their leaders to do something. It meant letting the disrepair of the country of the shape-shifting dragons continue, even when it felt so needless.

Maybe Johna was too moved by their plight to see better days. To accept anything less than the success of getting the Dragon Queen back to her throne to be afraid as many others would be in her shoes. She had earned the title of Johna the Brave from her own Queen to be anything less than that. It wasn’t a burden as many would assume. It was who she was, nothing more, nothing less.

When the top of the tower started to blend in with the dark clouds above it, Johna halted her horse. The rest of the party stopped as well, their nervous energy palpable even with her back turned to them. She took off her helmet, feeling her hair try and bounce up despite being covered in sweat from riding all morning. She heard the others take their helmets off, the soft clanks of the faceplate shifting as the knights pulled them over their heads.

She didn’t turn around as she spoke. “I’ll take the dragon myself. Wait here.”

“Sire.” One of the knights, Mayla said, her soft voice holding concern. “Wouldn’t it be better to have one of us come with you to make sure you capture the Dragon Queen?”

“There are some things that must be done alone, Mayla.”

“Does this have to do with the stories you’ve told us over the last few days, sire?” Odde asked, his voice bolder than Mayal’s.

“It would,” Johna said simply. Maybe it was foolish to go alone, but something in her gut said that she should go alone. That even bring one other person with her would spell out doom. She’s always listened to her gut when it had felt this strongly about something. “If you don’t see me return in the next day or so, leave and have another knight come to get the Draconian Queen.”

“As you wish, sire,” came the combined voices of her troops. For a quick moment, she smiled to herself, proud of leading such a group.

Then with nothing further to say, she went to go find the Draconian Queen.

The ride through the dead forest was short, shorter than she had expected. At one point, she had taken notice of the ashes that lightly littered the ground, making the surroundings appear even more ghastly than it had before. 

When close enough to the tower, she hopped off her horse. She took notice that the ashes streaked the horse’s legs, making the light brown coat turn a different colour as if they had always looked that way when tying them to one of the dead looking trees. Johna lightly patted the creature’s neck, hoping that would keep them calm until she returned.

The trek to the tower was uneventful. It only disappointed the one side of her that wanted to live out the stories that her parents had told her. But she knew that it was best that it was uneventful. This was a quest to return a missing queen, not an epic tale of bravery, of being the odds set against her.

As she searched for a way into the tower, with no visible doors that she could see, a darkness fell over her. Looking up, she saw a dragon standing on the roof, anger clear on the creature’s face. Perhaps it was hasty to say that this would be uneventful in any way.

Quickly Johna moved away from the base of the tower, walking backwards to keep watch of the dragon. They shifted on the roof to a standing position, scales shining lowly in the low light of the sun. They lifted one of their feet into the air, claws looking sharp enough to cut through the stone of the tower below their feet. When Johna paused in taking a step backwards, the dragon opened their jaws and let out an ear-piercing roar. 

Johna in reaction covered her ears, watching in shock as the dragon crawled down the tower. The claws dug into the stone, cracking and creating chunks as they travelled down with speed a creature that size shouldn’t posse. When the front legs reached the ground, Johna did the only thing that she could at that moment. She pulled out her sword from its scabbard and held it in front of her.

The dragon didn’t look impressed by this action, quickly moving closer to her. They stood in its hind legs, glaring down at her with the same unimpressed look. The creature lumbered towards her, claws out and digging into the ground with each step. The sight of the punctured ground causes Johna to hold her sword high, gripping the handle hard. 

She would stand her ground against the dragon even if it meant losing her life in the process.

The dragon finally reached her, standing on its hind legs to stare down at her. Hot breath washed over Johna and yet, she stood still, wait for the moment when the creature would lunge for her.

“GET OUT!” They bellowed down at her. Johna feeling surprised at the turn of events, could also feel the rush of hot air that came from the dragon’s bellowing, her hair bouncing up and down from the force of it. “GET OUT!”

Johna held up her sword, pointing the tip of it towards the dragon’s stomach. “I won’t. I’m looking for the Queen of Dracona.” 

She continued to watch as the dragon narrowed their eyes at her. They leaned down to the point where their snout touched the tip of her sword, unafraid of it piercing their skin. “I will not return with you. I have no fondness for humans after what your kind has done.”

“I was hired to bring you back by your countrymen, Your Majesty,” Johna said, unafraid, sidestepping away from the shapeshifter’s reluctance to come with her. “They are afraid without you ruling over them.”

“Matters not, human, I won’t return.” The shapeshifter turned to go, her black scales dimly shining in the low light.

Johna narrows her eyes for the first time. She lowers her sword, letting it stay at her side. “Do you wish your people to suffer needlessly, Your Majesty?”

“What do you know about the suffering of my people human?” She stopped, twisting her head to look back at Johna. There was a glint of curiosity in her eyes - the colours that kept constantly changing as if it couldn’t decide which one to land on. They held so much anger in them as well.

“I admit not much since I’m young. But I do know that they look to a leader to help them through that suffering, so I took the quest to do that - regardless of the politics of the past between our species.” Johna admits. 

“That would be the first I’ve heard of such sentiments.” And then in a lower tone, only meant to be said to herself, John figures in her mind, “Not since her at least.”

“I only wish to ease the suffering, Your Majesty. Please let me bring you back to your people.”

A blank look. Nothing that would give which way that the shape-shifting dragon would go. Johna waited, knowing she would have to leave the area with whatever the Dragon Queen decided.

Then as if deciding on a whim, the dragon let out of huff. She slowly changed her form, becoming smaller and smaller until she only stood about two feet above from the top of Johna’s head. Her skin was a few shades lighter than Johna’s own - which was a dark brown - even with the random black patches of scales appeared on her skin. Long brown hair cascading in waves down to her hip despite looking as if needed to be brushed through once. 

Her eyes - pupil like a cat’s - continued to change colour, almost rippling in her human form as it went from a dark shade of blue to a light colour of green. Johna also took notice of the clawed hands, still appearing very much like a dragon despite the smaller size. She was beautiful, something that made Johna’s heart skip a beat in realization.

“I will go with you human, but refer to me by my actual title instead of that ‘Your Majesty’ human dribble.” She says, glaring down at Johna.

“If you do the same for me.”

“Fine. I’m Lyrva, Lady of the Black. What is your name, human?”

“Johna the Brave. Let me escort you back home, Lyrva.”

“Your wish is my command, Johna the Brave.” The shape-shifter said sarcastically, moving towards the direction of the horse. For some reason, this made Johna smile.

Maybe she would get a challenge as she wished for.


End file.
